Energy efficiency steps to get green signal

Steps to boost India’s energy efficiency, including mandatory efficiency ratings for everyday equipment, are expected to get the go-ahead when the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change meets here on Monday.

In India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change unveiled June 30, 2008, energy efficiency has been identified as one of the eight principal ways in which the country will fight global warming.

The detailed plan has now been drafted and will come up for approval at Monday’s meeting, according to officials in the government’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE).

Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh has already announced some salient features of the plan- from January 7 next year, refrigerators, air-conditioners, distribution transformers and fluorescent lamps will need mandatory ratings from the BEE.

“The necessary notifications are being prepared,” Mr. Ramesh had said July 31.

“The mandatory standards will include all these appliances made and sold in India, including those meant for export.”

Six months after the mandatory energy efficiency ratings are introduced, they will be expanded to cover all electric motors, cooking (LPG) stoves and colour television sets, the minister had added.

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On the occasion of World Wildlife Day, U.N. General Secretary Ban ki-moon released a statement urging all consumers, suppliers and governments to treat crimes against wildlife as a threat to sustainable future. (Photos: AP, Reuters, The Hindu)